Palau President Taking Heat For Taking In Uighurs

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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

And we've been hearing these past few days about some Chinese Muslims picked up in Afghanistan and Pakistan after 9/11 and sent to Guantanamo. They're members of China's Uighur minority, who China calls terrorists, though the U.S. now says they're not the enemy and should be freed.

More than a dozen are headed from Cuba to another island nation, tiny Palau in the Pacific. The president of Palau agreed to take the Uighurs after the U.S. didn't want them, but then, neither do many in Palau - as NPR's Michael Sullivan reports.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN: President Johnson Toribiong has taken a ton of heat for his decision, including from his own brother-in-law, the editor of the Island Times who wrote a scathing editorial over the weekend, describing the move as bizarre, warning the president that tourism and terrorists just don't go together.

President JOHNSON TORIBIONG (Palau President): I sent the letter back and says, you know, I disagree with you, but I respect your right to express your opinion and I still love you.

SULLIVAN: The president is unrepentant. He says the decision to accept the Uighurs is right for Palau, right for its long-time ally, the U.S., and right for the Uighurs who've already been detained unjustly for the past seven years.

President TORIBIONG: They were caught between the rock and the hard place. And for Palau to open itself up to accord these people freedom is a wonderful thing. It's not only just, it's morally right.

SULLIVAN: Morally right and culturally correct as well. Palau, he says, has a long history of taking in those washed up on its shores. But some wonder if they should be honoring that tradition this time around.

(Soundbite of singing, "God Sent His Son")

SULLIVAN: Palau is a largely Christian nation and there was a respectable turnout yesterday for morning services at Palau Baptist Church, despite a heavy downpour.

Mr. Terrence MCCLURE (Pastor of Palau Baptist Church): If a friend is somebody you'd give a gift to, folks, you're buying them off.

SULLIVAN: Pastor Terrence McClure's sermon was in part about the difference between a gift and a bribe. And it was a timely topic given that some here say Palau's decision to accept the Uighurs came after its longtime friend and benefactor, the U.S. offered some $200 million in aid to do so.

Palau's president and U.S. official deny any quid pro quo, but church-goer Edith Balo(ph) isn't happy with any of it.

Ms. EDITH BALO (Churchgoer, Palau Baptist Church): I think it's a bad idea. I'm just afraid of terrorists.

SULLIVAN: But these men have been found innocent by the American government.

Ms. BALO: So why don't they take them? See, I'm confused. I'm afraid of terrorists. United States is a big country. Why are they giving them to us? This is a Christian country. What if these people come here and then the tourists are afraid to come?

SULLIVAN: She's not the only one asking.

(Soundbite of hydraulic lift)

SULLIVAN: This is Sam's Tours, one of the largest dive operations in Palau where tourism is the number one industry. The owner Sam Scott came here from the U.S. 27 years ago and now considers himself a local.

He says the president's decision is already hurting business, already down because the global recession and fears about swine flu.

Mr. SAM SCOTT (Owner, Sam's Tours): I'm already getting some cancellations from pre-booked customers because of what they've heard and seen in the news that they're no longer interested in coming to Palau and that concerns me.

SULLIVAN: But President Toribiong insists that a friend in need, that's the U.S., is a friend indeed. And that's good enough for taxi driver Norman Yellup(ph) who says he's ready for the Uighurs.

Mr. NORMAN YELLUP (taxi driver): Oh, I'm not afraid of them, and I welcome them to my country. They are not terrorists. They are just like the people, you know.

SULLIVAN: And besides, he says bluntly, we can use the money. The give and take goes both ways. A state funeral is planned tomorrow for a young Palauan man killed earlier this month while serving with the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

Michael Sullivan, NPR News, Koror, Palau.

(Soundbite of music)

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